Best place to meet a ghost

Death and Taxes

105 West Hargett Street, Raleigh

(984) 242-0218

Before Death and Taxes was a James Beard Award semifinalist—OK, way before—the nearly century-old building that now houses the Ashley Christiensen joint served as a funeral home and later as a bank. Somewhere along the way, it earned the distinction from the Triangle Paranormal Society as the most haunted building in Raleigh, maybe after one of the group's representatives supposedly entered the space and promptly fainted from the energy. People reported hearing mysterious footsteps and voices while the building was being restored—including a contractor's young daughter and the nice man she met, who was only visible to her—and there are still plenty of creepy components, including a basement bank vault and a sketchy elevator. And if you don't happen to meet a ghost at Death and Taxes, you can still feast on some of the best food around. It's a win-win, you see.

(Sorry, no information is currently available for other years in this same award category.)